Contact: Sasha Tenenbaum, 917-887-0146, stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
Washington, DC—In response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposal, issued today, which would restore the legal basis for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, Moms Clean Air Force Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning issued the following statement:
“No amount of mercury is safe for a child’s brain. That’s why the members of Moms Clean Air Force have worked tirelessly, for a decade, to keep mercury out of our air, so it does not migrate into and disrupt the development of babies’ brains.
“Our members have fought hard to build—and then to restore—the legal foundation of our Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which were weakened by the Trump administration.
“EPA’s proposal to reinstate the legal foundation of the standards that limit mercury and other toxic, carcinogenic pollution from coal-fired power plants is a public health necessity. It will shore up standards that have helped slash mercury pollution by more than 80%.
“However, parents can’t rest easy just yet. Not when coal plants continue to emit dangerous quantities of hazardous air pollution, including 33,000 pounds of mercury each year.
“It is time to move forward with strengthening the substantive protections in the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards so that brain damage in children, as well as pollutants that cause cancer, lung disease, and other serious health harms, are no longer a threat to our families’ health and well-being.”
RESOURCES
- Overviews: “Mercury Pollution in the United States” and “Keeping Mercury out of Our Babies’ Brains”
- Factsheet: “How Mercury Poisoning Works”; Spanish version found here